Exe-Tra Time.

– Saturday 30th March 2024
– 15:00 Kick Off
– Attendance: 8,088
– Distance Travelled: 95 miles
– Full Photo Gallery

– League 1
– St. James Park, Exeter
– Weather: Mostly sunny, some rain showers
– Admission: £27
– Programme: ?

Intro

Exeter City will be looking to avoid a repeat of the result when these two teams met in East London in October – Charlton romped to a 4-1 win that day, however the Grecians find themselves a place higher than the Addicks at the start of play today. City had a good run in the League Cup this season; a run which included a win over Premier League Luton Town before succumbing to Championship Middlesborough. Their last league outing was away at Burton Albion who are in something of a relegation battle; Exeter came away with a 1-0 win and all but secured their place in League One next season.

Charlton were boosted by the arrival of the experienced Kazenga Lua-Lua, and the former Newcastle forward made a cameo appearance in their last fixture – a 1-1 draw with struggling Fleetwood Town. This result made it 8 games undefeated for Nathan Jones’ side and they’ll look to extend that record further today. They did struggle a bit in the FA Cup this season; needing a replay to see off non-league Cray Valley Paper Mills in the 1st Round, before losing to League 2 Gillingham in Round 2.

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The Ground

St James Park is served by a train station of the same name, making it easy to reach from Exeter St Davids and Exeter Central. The stadium is located in a residential area towards the north of the city. The most recognisable stand is the huge terrace behind one goal – the Big Bank. Opposite this is the relatively tiny, mostly terraced end which is where the majority of the away fans are housed. The all-seated main stand along one side faces another seated stand which runs alongside just over half of the sideline. My seat was in the latter today.

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The Match

Exeter started the game on the front foot – sending a number of crosses into the danger area in the opening exchanges. Former Charlton player Ben Purrington was on the receiving end of a lovely Jack Aitchison cross and nodded past Harvey Isted in the visitors’ goal. Grecians keeper Vili Sinisalo was called into action; pulling off a couple of decent saves, soon after as Athletic looked to strike back. Eventually the half fizzled out somewhat before the visitors looked like they would be going into the break level. George Dobson lifted the ball over Sinisalo, only for Purrington to get back in the nick of time to clear the ball off the line.

Chances were few and far between in the 2nd half, not helped by flurries of substitutions as the half progressed. Charlton were pushing forward, buoyed by the presence of experienced strikers Freddy Ladapo and Chuks Aneke. Purrington made further stake for claim of the man of the match award with a great sliding tackle denying a shot on goal for the Addicks. And on 87 minutes the equaliser arrived – Tyreeq Bakinson swung a cross into the box, Aneke met the ball well and his header deflected off Grecian Cheick Diabate past Sinisalo. It was an unfortunate own goal, and it almost got worse for the home side as Alfie May broke away, took the ball past Sinisalo, but could only slam the ball into the post.

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